So he's busy writing his first real exam today...

So he's busy writing his first real exam today, one of a handful that will usher him into a new and exciting world where he can flourish and live his dreams.

It's a milestone - one that has come too soon for this mother's heart. It signals yet a new season in our lives, somehow the seasons seem to grow shorter as they grow taller...

I try hard to capture the memories, desperate to revel in their energy and presence. I try to record the conversations and the laughter in my mind as I know that too soon it's going to be quite, too quite.

It was just the other day that he blinked in amazement and snuggled warmly, skin to skin, on my tummy. The Crown Prince of Avalon. 

I remember when he was not yet one month old and I was suddenly overwhelmed by the enormity of the task at hand. I remember the moment of fear and how I wondered whether I would ever "get him big".

I remember how he would playfully try to touch my face with his foot as he nursed, how he tried to smile and feed at the same time.The "nog tee" and the "nog see". Helping as best he could when his world was invaded by "baie babas".

I remember a confident, unthreatened toddler loving and protecting his little brothers. I remember the puzzles, the lego and the drawings.

I remember the dreams of a wannabe inventor that was at his happiest in the garage creating.

And I remember the challenges and the self-doubts, the moments of panic, as I wondered whether I was up to the task of unleashing the creativity and beautiful complexity of this right-brained man-child.

And then I relive that moment of relief that washed over me last week when an educational psychologist and friend confirmed that, that which had concerned me for years, was developed to an age-appropriate level - and all he needs is time.

Don't we all?


"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens...He has made everything beautiful in its time."
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 11